Cutting Aluminum Cases

[SupraNormal]

Hello fellow [H]er's,

I am just wondering what the best tool is to cut holes in aluminum cases? By holes I mean perfectly round fan holes. I found with my dremel, its not very easy, and the dremel rotates to fast and melts the aluminum, causing it to ruin the bit. Any helpful comments will be appreciated.

 

[IceWindus]

A holesaw is the best.

 

[Mr.B]

Hm ive never had a problem with the dremel and melting with aluminum. But you are correct a dremel does not cut nice holes, you need to sand it with the sanding drum after you cut with a dremel. Ive used drmels, jigsaws, and holesaws all to make holes in my aluminum cases. Holesaw is by far the most efficient. Good luck.

 

[altec]

A holesaw is the best.

ya but hold on to the drill the hole saw locks up it well snap your wist

edit:If your cuting windows a jigsaw works great.

 

[Basheron]

A holesaw is the best way to go, check out this worklog:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=830396

If you use a dremel, you can still get pretty good results if you have patience (my rig)
http://gallery.pimprig.com/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=7545&password=

 

[SupraNormal]

thanks for the info guys

 

[darktiger]

A dremel with the flex shaft works great...

 

[LoneWolf]

I had no problems using a Dremel to cut the blowhole for my aluminum case; in fact, I found it a lot easier than steel, which is not only tougher to cut but tends to throw sparks. I have a feeling you're putting way too much pressure on your Dremel while cutting, and that is causing your problem. You want to make multiple passes, not try to cut through the first time around. If you're having trouble with the angle, use a Flexshaft with your Dremel to make it easier.

What cutting wheels are you using? I used the fiberglass-reinforced ones and it came out great.